


Courting Disaster

by Keirra



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Family, Friendship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Non-Canon Relationship, Romance, cross faction relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keirra/pseuds/Keirra
Summary: Jedi Knight Noara Starspark always wondered about her parents. Who are they? Why did they gave her away? And what it would be like to be part of an actual family? A lifetime of daydreams and wishes never could have prepared her for the Lewtons - the family that never stopped loving her. Throw in a grumpy godfather, more siblings than she ever imagined, and a few Mandalorians and nothing in her life will ever be the same.The Order's teachings against attatchments have never been harder to follow.
Relationships: Aric Jorgan/Female Republic Trooper, Kira Carsen/Male Republic Trooper, Male Bounty Hunter/Mako (Star Wars), Torian Cadera/Female Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython
Comments: 16
Kudos: 9





	1. Small Steps Through Troubled Streets

**Ord Mantell**

**Republic Military Base**

Fort Garnik was the only Republic Military base located on Ord Mantell and most days it ran like a well oiled machine, a true model of military precision. Major Braxtol Lewton oversaw the Infantry Command, though he had his second in command and old friend Aric Jorgan handle most of the hands-on supervision. Jorgan was a straight laced, serious leader who he trusted implicitly in his role. Hell, Braxtol and his wife Jilleste trusted the man enough he was the godfather to all four of their children. 

Their youngest, Baylee, worshiped the man, and just last week had declared her intention to marry him when she was “all growed” up. The twins, Darvic and Juliaddi, loved him like an uncle - one determined to follow in his footsteps into the military and the other going out of her way to give him as much guff as possible. Juli had hit the teenage rebellious streak at about eight and never moved on. 

And their oldest? Well, she might never meet her godfather but Braxtol was sure if circumstances had been different Aric would have been an ideal guardian for her as well. 

So with a man like Aric Jorgan running the command center, and the other parts of the base run by equally capable soldiers, it was rare that anything serious enough to make Braxtol lose his cool happened.

The high security communication on his computer screen was one of those rare occurrences, making him grit his teeth to hold back the multiple curses that would adequately express his aggravation. He had warned command that something like this could happen, but they ignored his recommendation that a weapon of the ZR- 57’s calibur was safer on a more stable planet than Ord Mantell. For once being right was not a satisfying experience, not this time. 

Not when a bomb that could destroy most of the life on the planet where his family lived was in the hands of Separatists that were ever escalating their violent actions. 

Letting out an aggravated sigh, Braxtol leaned forward in his seat as he pulled up the roster of active duty squads on base. It had been almost a week since the bomb disappeared and all earlier attempts to get a fix on its location had failed. Braxtol needed to get another team, one that wouldn’t let up until they had accomplished the objective, out looking for that bomb. If he was remembering the information from his son’s newest assignment correctly, Havoc Squad should have arrived that morning. 

That was another perplexing facet of his day. Darvic was a good soldier, a sergeant in good standing after just over a year of active duty in the outer rim, but his sudden transfer to Havoc Squad was curious. A general SpecForce commission wouldn’t have raised so many questions, there were several teams afterall, but Havoc was known for having the best, most experienced and decorated SpecForce members. Braxtol loved his son, and was endlessly proud of the boy, but none of those described the rookie soldier. 

The status reports confirmed that Commander Harron Tavus had arrived with most of his squad, the two others marked as enroute, and expected in the command center in less than an hour. That gave him just enough time to get over there and start discussing the missing bomb, and what to do about it, with Aric before the hotshot SpecForce squad arrived. 

Before getting up Braxtol took a moment to take a deep, steadying breath. If anything else, he thought, there was little that could happen to throw off his day any further.

**Rendia Freight**

Juliaddi Lewton muttered a curse when she saw who was loitering in Viidu's office. Even on the best day, she didn’t have the patience to deal with both Viidu and Syreena. There was something about Syreena that just… bothered her. More than once she had wondered if these feelings she got were anything like the Force, surely if her older sister had enough of it to be a Jedi a little might have been left for her? Right?

Either way, anywhere Syreena was loitering was somewhere Juli didn’t want to be. Turning on her heel she decided her meeting with Viidu could wait until later, only to run right into the solid form of Corso Riggs. 

“Whoa there Jules, where’s the rush?” Corso asked, an easy smile on his lips. 

“Just avoiding the trash,” Juli said with a wink, enjoying the way the gesture made him flush and pushed past the farm boy before he could fully digest her words. 

Corso, never one to be deterred, followed just a few steps behind. “You should try to be nicer Jules, Viidu is serious about her, you know?”

“I don’t have to like the boss’ arm candy Corso.”

He frowned at her words and shook his head, “arm candy is such a crass term, but I never said you have to  _ like _ her. Just try and be civil. Anyway, forget that. Wanna come with me to pick up the weapon shipment coming in for Viidu?”

Juli thought about it for a moment, her only other choice was to stick around and wait for Viidu to be freed from Syreena’s grubby clutches. She winced at the thought, maybe Corso had a point about her being rude to the other woman. There was no proof the woman wasn’t to be trusted after all - just the sinking feeling in her gut, and other than her twin brother Darvic no one respected her gut the way they should. Idily she wondered if their older sister, the great jedi would have before brushing the silly thought away. She'd never met her sister and wasn't likely ever to so there was no point lingering on it. Unlike Darvic, Juli was more of a practical thinking person - the odds of ever meeting a single specific sentient being among the vastness of the galaxy was far slimmer than she liked her bets to be.

Brushing off the thoughts of her sister, and Serana's oily presence, Juli followed Corso out of the warehouse where Viidu ran Rendia Freight. Instinctively she glanced over toward the command center, where her father and godfather were likely to be. It was a fine line she was walking, working with Viidu, who only followed the letter of the law when it suited him. If either of the father figures in her life learned some of what was happening under their noses, that she aided, they'd blow their gaskets. 

If they learned she knew about most of it all along? Well, adult or not she would be grounded until she was middle aged.

Together they made their way out of the base, skirting around the edge of the field between the Fort and Drellian Village. Ever since the Seps rose up open spaces had become dangerous and that made her stomach sour. Growing up Ord Mantell had been a safe place for her and Darvic to play, it made her heart ache that their younger sister Baylee didn't get the same experience. 

On the far side of the clearing was the hanger where Skavak was meeting their newest shipment contractor - some hot shot captain with a reputation for making the most difficult deliveries look easy. Like getting through the blockade the Seps had set up around the Fort. Why the military was letting them get away with this was beyond her, maybe she would pester her dad about it next time she saw him. 

Suddenly the intermittent blaster fire was drowned out by heavy, loud fire. Juli whirled around to locate the source. "Corso," Juli gasped, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt tightly. One of the large air defense cannons had been obviously overrun by the Seps, now it was laying down a heavy stream of fire at any ship in the sky. Two mid sized ships, bearing the Republic's sigil, were hit and she watched with horror as they careened toward the ground. 

"We gotta get to the hanger Jules," Corso said, shaking off her grip only to grab her hand tightly. Setting of at a quick pace, he pulled her along behind him as the sound of explosions filled the air. 

“Skavak we’ve got trouble!” Corso called as they hit the door at a run. Finally he let Juli’s hand drop and she slowed down to catch her breath. At her own pace she moved to stand by him while he explained the situation to Skavak and the Zabrak she assumed was their new shipping contact. 

Zabrak rolled his eyes, “it’s a battlezone, trouble is part of the deal.”

“Yeah?” Juli asked, shooting the stranger a smirk, “is getting your ship shot down by an air defense cannon another part?”

“What are you two on about?” Skavak demanded. 

Juli let Corso get into the specifics, stepping away to look out the open hangar door at the ship the Zabrak had flown in on. It was an XS Freighter, an older model from the obvious wear and tear to the hull, but all together a nice looking ride. They were supposed to be fast, maneuverable things, exactly the kind of ship you would want to try and slip through blockades and battle zones in.

It wasn’t the model at the top of her wish list, but easily in the top ten she preferred. Someday she was going to be the one with a ship, leaving this small, rural planet in search of adventure and new horizons. Juli had many mixed feelings about both of her older siblings being able to explore the galaxy at large, though didn’t envy the way they both achieved that. Soldier or space monk, neither appealed to her at all. 

“Jules!” 

Juli turned at the sound of Corso calling her name and returned to where the three men were standing. “Yeah?”

“Wanna hold down the fort here or help Turral destroy the remote control stations?

Cocking her head to the side, Julii eyed Turral speculatively, as though it was a hard decision. Really it was easy, anywhere Skavak was, she didn’t want to be. Unlike with Syreena, Juli knew exactly why she disliked the walking dumpster fire that was Skavak. A few months back he had hit on her at the local cantina and, like many men before him, didn’t take no for an answer. Unlike other men, she had to have some of the soldiers who reported to her dad step in to get his greasy hands off her. 

“Think you can keep up?” she asked Turral instead of answering directly, grinning when the Zabrak shot her a cocky smile. 

“Lead the way Blondie, I’ll keep up just enough to enjoy the view.”

Juli rolled her eyes and sauntered past him toward the side door. If she threw an extra sway into her hips to tease the men watching, well, that was her business. 

**Infantry Command Center**

If seeing really was believing, Sergeant Darvic Lewton must be on the verge of going blind. Just being there, standing with the Havoc Squad and wearing their signature colors, knowing that he was officially a member of the highly respected SpecForce team was enough to make him feel giddy. If it wasn’t for the eyes staring at him, all of his new teammates, he’d pinch himself to make sure this was real. It was his dream assignment. 

SpecForce had been one of his lifelong goals since learning about them as a kid. Havoc Squad was legendary and Darvic had grown up hearing stories about the squad’s leaders, Jace Malcom, Jek Kardan, even the current leader Harron Tavus, from his dad and godfather. Joining the ranks of such a prestigious crew was the highlight of his career so far. 

Commander Tavus was introducing them one at a time, listing their ranks, specialties and codenames. Other than the codenames none of it was new information, the moment he had received his orders Darvic had started learning everything he could about his new squad. 

Darvic doubted there was anyone who had attended the Republic’s military academy without hearing about Harron Tavus. He was well known for his actions during the Minos Cluster and was one of the few high ranking officers present on Coruscant when the Empire invaded. The Empire won that day but the fact Tavus fought and survived spoke volumes of his skill as a soldier. Stars knew many died that day, experienced soldiers, Jedi warriors and innocents alike. 

The Republic had survived the attack, and so had the Jedi, but to Darvic’s continual annoyance they never released the names of the Jedi who perished. Over ten years had passed and his family couldn’t get a clear answer out of them. Darvic had only been eight at the time but he could clearly remember his mom crying when she heard the news and his dad attempting to get any information he could that would tell them if she had survived or not. Was it really that difficult to tell distressed parents if their child was dead or alive? 

Despite his numerous resources and contact, dad wasn’t able to learn anything. The Jedi took the separation of their initiates from their birth families very seriously. Darvic liked to think she was still alive, out there saving the galaxy one Jedi miracle at a time, and his mom was adamant she would know if her child was gone. She lived by that belief, even baked a special quinberry cake each year on her birthday - the same way she did for the other three Lewton children. That was how his sister always felt like part of the family, despite her absence. 

Unwilling to let himself brood any longer over the uncertainty surrounding his older sister, Darvic forced himself to focus on what he had learned of his new comrades. Unlike Tavus, they had all been a mystery to him though none so much as the second-in-command, Captain Zora. 

Wraith was a fitting moniker for the Mirialan woman, even with the higher access his promotion granted him most information about her was suspiciously absent. Infiltration and assassination, her specilities according to Tavus, and meeting her cold stare was all Darvic needed to believe it. 

The Zabrak on the team was much warmer, smiling openly when he was introduced. Lieutenant Vanto “Fuse” Bazren wasn’t much older than Darvic but something about his nervous stuttering made him seem more like the junior officer in the room. His credentials however spoke for themselves, advanced degrees in chemical and structural engineering wasn’t anything to shake a stick at. 

However his academic achievements paled in comparison to what Darvic had managed to learn about the squad’s resident medical genius. Lieutenant Ryler Dorant was renowned for his ability to create superior adrenals and combat stimulants than anything the military's science division could manage. It was a wonder he is being sent into combat when he could be improving the entire Republic’s medical supplies. 

Those four, plus the friendly giant of a man who had introduced himself as Gearbox when he arrived, were the whole of Havoc Squad. 

And now Darvic was too. He still couldn’t believe it. 

Once the introductions were finished Tavus looked expectantly at Darvic and it took him a moment before he realized they were waiting for him to speak. “It’s an honor to join Havoc Squad sir, I look forward to working with you all,” Darvic said with a firm nod, once he remembered his manners. 

The corner of Tavus’ mouth lifted slightly, like he found something amusing. “Very good, Sergeant Lewton. Now down to business, it’s been six days since the transport carrying the ZR-57 orbital strike bomb crashed. It took recovery units almost twelve hours to get to the site and by then it had been stripped, everything gone including the bomb.”

Darvic frowned, “that doesn’t make sense. The Separatists wouldn’t want to use that, from what Gearbox said it could vaporize the whole island. At least. They want to change the government here, not kill everyone.” 

As quiet settled over the group it took a moment for Darvic to realise that all his new squadmates were staring at him openly. He shrugged nonchalantly, “I grew up here, my family keeps me in the loop.”

“Good to know,” Tavus said after giving him a calculating look, “either way we need to find the bomb before they accidently set it off or the radiation shielding fails. We have several leads so we will split the work. The others already have their assignments, but Lewton I want you to meet up with an informant. He claims to have found something important, but is too deep to exfiltrate. Since you know the area, meeting him in Talloran shouldn’t be a problem right?”

Darvic shook his head, “not unless the whole town has changed in the last few years. Just tell me where the rendezvous is and I’ll get the intel.”

“Good to hear it,” Tavus said, this time smiling openly before gesturing at someone outside Darvic’s line of sight. “Before you go there’s one more person you need to meet.”

Following the movement, Darvic had to quickly stifle down a groan at the glare aimed his way. Normally an officer giving him a look like that would be a bad thing, but the grumpy Cathar marching his way was far from a stranger. 

“This is Lieutenant Aric Jorgan,” Tavus continued, completely missing the spark of recognition in Darvic’s eyes, “an operations officer from the Republic’s Ord Mantell Infantry Command.” Deep down part of Darvic wanted to speak up, filling in the blanks before Tavus got to them but snarking a new CO was never a smart plan. “Since we’re on individual missions to search for this bomb, Lieutenant Jorgan is coordinating our efforts from here.”

Darvic watched with barely contained amusement as Aric stepped into his personal space, leaning down enough to meet his eyes in a hard glare. It pleased him to see that his godfather only had to lean down slightly, they were nearly the same height now. “Listen up rookie, I’m going to make this completely clear. When you are in the field what I say goes. Period. I’ll be watching the op through your shoulder camera so don’t think I won’t know if you step out of line.”

Over Aric’s shoulder, Darvic saw one of the techs shooting him a sympathetic look and he bit his cheek to keep from laughing. It seemed even the soldiers stationed at Fort Garnik didn’t know that their serious minded lieutenant was his godfather. The Cathar had changed his diapers, or so his mother claimed, and coddled his baby sister. This ‘hardass lieutenant riding on the rookie’ act wasn’t nearly as intimidating as when Aric had been the one to catch him drinking whiskey he pilfered from his dad’s liquor cabinet when he was fifteen. 

“Is that all sir?” Darvic asked, unable to resist any longer. Seeing the tech behind Aric stare at him in shock in more than worth it.

Bright blue eyes narrowed into a glare. “Just get to Talloran, get the intel and don’t screw it up sergeant,” Aric growled, dismissing him with a gesture. 

Figuring he had more than pushed his luck, Darvic snapped a salute to his godfather and new CO before leaving. 

**Ord Mantell Spaceport**

Stepping out of the spaceport into the open air was the greatest relief Noara had ever known. Until the last few months she had spent her entire life on a planet full of life and good, clean air. Not the recycled stale atmo of a spaceship or the smog tainted miasma that seemed to infiltrate every level of Coruscant – and Noara would know, chasing down the Prison Planet program made her experience almost everything the ecumenopolis had to offer. 

So finally returning to a planet with actual clean, fresh and breathable air was, well, a breath of fresh air. Noara stopped just outside the doors and smiled, taking in a deep breath and letting the aura of the planet sink in. Places like Coruscant where little grew anymore were lacking in the warm, welcoming Force aura of a vibrant, living world like Ord Mantell. Sure, there was something of a war going on, she could hear it in the distance, but the planet itself was thriving.

Under the muffled sounds of battle there was something else. Something that spoke to Noara deep inside, almost like a memory. As if she had been here, on this planet, breathing in this air and feeling the unique Force signature that surrounded her. She frowned at the confusing sensation, trying to figure out why it felt that way. 

“Jedi = Okay?”

Teeseven’s high pitched chirping at her side pulled her attention back to her immediate vicinity and she looked down at the astromech. “I’m fine Tee. C’mon, we should get going,” she said, motioning for the droid to follow her. “Who are we meeting with here again?” 

“SIS spy = Agent Ottau. Waiting = Taxi landing.”   
  
“Right,” Noara said, looking around for a sign pointing her toward the taxi landing. There seemed to be only one way to go, the street she stood on was a deadend at an overlook off to the right so left she turned. Fort Garnik was well populated, both by military personnel and civilians going about their business anywhere she looked. No one paid her any attention, which was a nice change from the way people on Coruscant had immediately identified her as a Jedi. The long brown robe was a bit of a giveaway but it seemed Jedi were a rarer occurrence here than at the Republic’s center. 

It was a shame Kira was missing this, the opportunity to stretch her legs and enjoy the open air. Noara was still a bit confused, and put out, at General Var Suthra’s insistence that she leave Kira behind. In hindsight, she should have spoken up, Kira was for all purposes at the moment  _ her _ padawan and who was a General to tell her what missions she could and couldn’t involve Kira in?

Though she had thought the port was seedy so maybe the younger Jedi preferred to stay on the ship? 

Walking through the Fort it was hard to see where Kira’s assessment had come from because she didn’t think it was accurate at all. Her walk through the base toward the taxi stand, which a passing soldier helpfully directed her to, was quite pleasant. 

Teeseven whistled as her contact came into view and Noara was very grateful for the little droid’s presence. Saved her asking around blindly for a spy who might not appreciate her asking around if anyone has seen an SIS Agent. The droid led her to the far side of the taxi pad where a slight man with shaggy brown hair was standing with his back toward her. If Teeseven was correct, and she had no reason to doubt the droid, this was the man who had pinpointed where Tarnis had transmitted the stolen information for his father to use against the Republic. The weapons General Var Suthra had described were the stuff of nightmares and even a single one in Darth Angral’s hands could cost countless lives. 

No matter what it took, Noara was not going to let that happen. 

As Noara reached where he was standing, Agent Ottau turned and gave her an appraising look before nodding in greeting. 

“Agent Ottau,” he said, confirming his identity. “Welcome to Ord Mantell. Hope you enjoy war zones Master Jedi, this planet’s full of them.”

“I noticed, what’s this all about?” Noara couldn’t resist asking, curious what was causing the chaos disrupting the planet that she felt so at peace on initially. 

The agent shrugged, “long story but the short version is the separatists want Ord Mantell’s independence from the Republic, which of course the Republic loyalists object to. At least that is the official story. Unofficially we know that the Empire is funding and, most likely, encouraging the separatists.”

“Sounds like things are headed in a dark direction everywhere,” Noara said, frowning. Ever since she had left Naboo that had been a recurring theme. The semi-peace that had reigned in the last decade was being disrupted everywhere it seemed - if it had ever existed at all.

“You aren’t wrong,” Ottau said, nodding. “Only reason we’re not fighting the Empire outright here is because they refuse to commit their own forces. They’d rather throw separatists at us.” 

The lengths to which the Empire was willing to go in their quest for destruction made Noara sick to her stomach and this was no different. Her first real wake up call to the depravity of the Empire was the destruction of the temple on Coruscant. She had been a child when it happened but the Order hadn’t sugarcated the tragedy for their younger members. The hope had been not to scare the initiates but rather to inspire a desire to prevent such acts of senseless violence. “The Empire holds very little respect for life, using the separatists as pawns in their is just the kind of thing they are known for.” Noara folded her arms across her chest, “perhaps there is some way I can help while I am here. If the Empire wants to fight dirty, who are we to deny them?” 

Ottau laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “That’s a way to put it I suppose. As long as you get the data Darth Angral stole I won’t complain if you want to clean up around here.” 

Noara knew that realistically she didn’t have a lot of time to dawdle here, just in case something else went wrong, but perhaps there was something she could do to help on the way to her own objective? Decision made, she turned her attention to the mission she had been sent to accomplish. “What have you learned about Darth Angral’s operation here?

Pulling out a datapad, Ottau pulled up a map and showed it to her. Their location was marked by a flashing blue circle and, to the north at the end of the peninsula was a red dot she assumed was her destination. “The General had me send a probe to the transciver’s location and I learned two things.” He pointed at the red dot, “one, it’s a small island and two - they don’t like visitors. My probe was disintegrated. Make sure that doesn't happen to you, eh?” 

“Disintegration isn’t exactly on my to do list,” Noara said with a smile, appreciating the agent’s levity. “This isn't a lot to go on, you know.”

“Wish I had more for ya, but that was my last probe droid and I doubt a second would have fared better anyway.” Ottau handed her the datapad, “take this, it will show you where to go, and let you contact me if you need anything. When you find the Hyperdata Transceiver your T7 unit should be able to plug in and download everything. With any luck we can get an idea of what Darth Angral has been up to.”

“Thanks,” Noara said, stowing the pad away in her bag. “Any idea who I should see about lending a hand around here?”

Ottau stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before grimacing. “Your best bet is probably going to be Lieutenant Jorgan, though fair warning that Cathar is the grumpiest bastard I’ve ever met. Should be easy enough to find, the guy is a workaholic and almost always in the Infantry Command center.”

Noara nodded, “thanks.”

“Anytime, but don’t say I didn’t warn you after you meet the man.” Ottau raised a hand in farewell, “be seeing you Master Jedi.”

It wasn’t until after Noara walked away that she realized the Agent had never asked her name. She wondered if he knew it, or just didn’t care, before brushing the thought away. It wasn’t important or useful to linger on the fact that almost every Jedi was interchangeable with another as far as the society they sacrificed normal lives to protect was concerned. It was an uncharitable thought that was unbecoming of a Jedi Knight. 

Infantry Command was indeed easy to find, the entrance helpfully labeled by a large sign above the door. Once inside it only took a moment to find someone to point her in the right direction, a young soldier named Farn who stuttered all over himself as he directed her to the main control room. Then it was easy to pick out Jorgan, he wasn’t the only non-human in the room but he was the only Cathar and the way he was snarling into his communicator was attention grabbing. 

Standing next to Jorgan was a tall, fair haired man with Major pins on his collar that eyed her curiously but didn’t say anything. Noara cast a quick glance over the man, noting the name tag on his chest that said “Lewton”, before returning her gaze to the Lieutenant. If she had been a soldier she’d probably be seen as disrespectful for not acknowledging the man, or saluting or something, but that was an upside to being part of the Order. While she didn’t outrank any particular level of officer in the military she also didn’t report directly to anyone unless assigned to a unit. 

Right now the only officer she had to listen to was General Var Suthra and that was just fine by her. Anything else was by her own discretion. 

So instead of addressing Major Lewton, Noara folded her arms into the sleeves of her robe, a move one of her master’s had taught her made a Jedi look more respectable and serious. She was acutely aware that she was easily young enough to be either man’s child and wanted to avoid being treated as such if possible. 

“Stay alert,” Jorgan growled at the holo of a young soldier in his hand. “You have to get that field box from Bellis’s house before the Separatists do. Double time it rookie.”

The soldier snapped a chrisp salute, one Noara knew she could never replicate. “Roger that.” 

“Jorgan out.” Cutting off the call, Jorgan stuck the holo back into his pocket with an exasperated noise. “How could that idiot get himself killed now? With everything going on?”

Just as Noara was starting to wonder how she would get his attention, she honestly had expected him to notice her waiting, the Major cleared his throat and cut off the Cathar’s grumbling. 

“Jorgan, I think you have a visitor.” Lewton said, smiling kindly in Noara’s direction. 

Jorgan finally turned to look at her, his scowl softening only slightly when he took in her robes and stance. “A Jedi? What’s a Jedi doing on Ord Mantell?”

Lewton sighed, “what the Lieutenant here means is, how can we assist you Master Jedi?”

“It’s fine, I realize my appearance might be unexpected. I am here on an assignment from General Var Suthra that is taking me out to,” Noara frowned, searching for the name of the peninsula in her mind. Giving up, she pulled out the datapad Ottau had given her and pulled the map back up. “Oradam peninsula. I wanted to see if there was anything along the way I could do to help out.”

The two men exchanged surprised looks before Jorgan snagged the datapad out of her hand and examined her destination. Lewton leaned over his shoulder to look as well before pinning her with an inquisitive expression. “What are you going out to the island for?”

Noara squared her shoulders, “unfortunately I am not at liberty to say.” Var Suthra had been very clear on that count, he didn’t want the Republic at large knowing they had built weapons of planetwide destruction in the first place, let alone that they lost them and the Empire had access to them. Personally she thought the public backlash would serve them well, all things considered, but it wouldn’t be her mouth that ran. 

The older man flashed her a warm grin, “can’t blame me for asking. It’s extremely rare for a Jedi to be sent to our neck of the woods.” He nudged Jorgan’s shoulder, “do you have something our esteemed guest can assist with?”

Noara’s cheeks flushed at the term and before she could stop herself she blurted out, “I’m just a Knight. No one special.”

Lewton eyed her carefully while Jorgan shot him an odd look. “I highly doubt that, Knight…?”

“Starspark sir, Knight Noara Starspark.” The title still felt so alien on Noara’s tongue, like she was pretending to be a fully fledged Knight instead of the Padawan she felt like. It was still hard to wrap her head around everything that had happened since she arrived on Tython to take her trials, the trials that never officially happened. Less than two months later being a Knight responsible for a senior Padawan of her own was enough to make her head spin if she thought too hard about it. 

Before they could respond, or she could inquire about the strange look both men had on their faces since hearing her name, a commotion near the Infantry Center’s entrance drew her attention. Jorgan also decided that the disturbance was more important than whatever surprise her name had apparently been and he handed her datapad back and started toward the entrance. Lewton was a step behind him and, since they never answered in inquiry, Noara figured she might as well follow and see what was going on. 

When Noara reached the entrance, Jorgan was shaking his head while the Major spoke to two men that were leading a short, peach colored Twi'lek male out. The Twi’lek was being belligerent and one of the soldiers restraining him caught him in the gut and Noara gasped. Rushing forward she pinned Jorgan and Lewton with a hard look. 

“What is going on here?” Noara demanded, not caring that neither man actually owed her any explanation. The Republic had a tendency to defer to Jedi in most situations and while that annoyed Noara at times, she wasn’t above taking advantage of it when she needed to. 

The glare Jorgan leveled her way was far more intimidating than her own had been, she didn’t need a mirror Noara to be sure of that. “Nothing that concerns you. Bums come in all the time selling bogus intel, ninety percent of the time it’s a waste of time.”

Noara frowned, “that means ten percent of the time it isn’t. What’s he claiming?”

“That he saw separatists planting bombs on the road outside the base,” Lewton said, scoffing in disbelief. “Like our lookouts wouldn’t have spotted that.”

Both men sounded certain that there was no chance this was a legitimate threat, but Noara wasn’t so sure. A feeling of dread washed over her and goosebumps broke out along her arms. No matter how credible this man usually was, she couldn’t let them brush it off. “Let me talk to him,” she said, momentarily pleased that her voice didn’t betray how nervous she was sticking her nose into their business, “I’ll be able to tell if he is lying easily and better to check than be wrong. Right?”

Jorgan and Lewton exchanged a look, the kind that made her suspect they had known one another for a long time and that the two were used to communicating this way. The look only lasted a brief moment before Jorgan sighed and Lewton nodded his head, waving at the soldiers who had frozen in the doorway at Noara’s outburst, to approach. They manhandled the Twi’lek over, despite his grumbling and Noara’s disapproving stare, and parked the small male between them in front of her. 

“You wanted to talk to the bum,” Jorgan bit out, “make this worth our time Jedi.”

“What having your goons beat me wasn't enough?” The Twi’lek hissed in her face before the soldier on his right pulled him several paces back. He roughly shrugged off their hold and rounded on her again. “You’re all nothing but thugs in uniforms! Your bosses are going to hear about this, your bosses’ bosses! You’re all going down!”

Biting back a groan at the mess she had gotten herself into, Noara raised a hand to try and placate him. “Please sir, try and calm down. No one is going to hurt you.”

The Twi’lek scoffed, “right because I believe that.” He glared at the soldier that had pulled him back and spat at the man. The soldier growled and, after wiping the saliva off his face, moved to hit him. 

Acting quickly, Noara wrapped the Force around the soldier to hold him in place. Not hard enough to hurt him, just enough to push him back a few feet to put some space between the men. The soldier looked over at her with a startled expression, a look echoed on the Twi’lek’s face. Noara fixed him with a firm look and decided to pounce on his surprise. “Do that again and I will let him hit you. Behave and I promise you won’t be hurt.”

“What do you want from me?” he asked. “I just want to go home. I regret even caring enough to come here.”

“I know and I’m sorry about that, but I need to know what you came here to tell us.”

“Too bad, I think I’ve forgotten what I came to say.” The Twi’lek grinned, “if only there was some … incentive to help me remember.” 

“Incentive?” Noara asked, stunned by the sudden change in his demeanor. It was one thing to know that there were people who valued material things and money more than the lives of others, it was another to see it in person. She was naive perhaps, but she couldn’t help it. “Saving lives isn’t enough?”

“Life is hard all around girlie, especially out here.” 

Noara heard a growl behind her, one deep enough that she knew it came from the Cathar. Human vocal cords couldn’t hit that deep, gravely tone. She knew he wasn’t going to let her ‘interrogation’ go on much longer. This wasn’t something she did lightly, but that seemed to be the theme of the day. Breaking all her personal, unspoken rules. Ordering people around, throwing her weight as a Jedi in their faces to get her way, and now she had to prove she had the juice to get the information she wanted. 

“Fine,” Noara said, smiling sweetly and waving her hand in front of the Twi’lek. “ **You want to tell me everything you know about the sepratist activity** .” Sometimes it could be difficult to influence the minds of others, but not his. The Twi’lek’s mind crumbled under the touch of her own and she knew in that moment she could ask him anything, tell him to do anything, and he wouldn’t have a prayer in the universe of resisting her. 

It was a powerful, and terrifying, position to be in and Noara would be lying if she claimed to never be tempted to abuse. Tempted, but never to the point of crossing that line.

The Twi’lek’s eyes glazed over and his voice was an even monotone when he spoke. “I saw the Seps hiding a bunch of bombs down on the road north of here, setting up an ambush. Heard ‘em say the bombs are gunna blow when some troop convoy is going past, don’t know when but said it would be soon.”

Noara frowned at the information. He wouldn’t be able to lie with her in his head like she was, so she knew it was true, but it seemed a bit too convenient that he had so much specific information. “How were you close enough to hear them speaking and not spotted?”

“They thought I was one of them ‘cause I smuggle out supplies from the base.” 

Jorgan growled again, lunging forward to reach the bespelled man but Noara held an arm out to stop him. “What kind of supplies are you stealing from us?” His tone demanded an answer but until Noara pressed against his mind again the Twi’lek refused to answer.

“Weapons, medicine, food, anything I can get my hands on. They pay well, even if it’s in imperial minted credits.”

The sour expression on Jorgan’s face was matched by the one on Lewton’s and the feeling in Noara’s gut. The SIS was right, the Empire was influencing the conflict here for their own purposes. 

The confession was like the start of a landslide. The Infantry Command Center was suddenly a flurry of activity and nervous energy after Lewton ordered the once informant, now prisoner, be taken to the brig. Jorgan had rushed to a computer terminal and was feverishly typing when Noara moved to stand next to him, feeling a bit useless now that she wasn’t sure how to help. 

“Damnit,” Jorgan cursed, smacking the terminal in frustration. “A troop convoy is scheduled to move through that area any minute now, it will take too long to call in EOD before they get there.”

“I can do it.”

Slowly Jorgan turned his head to look at her. “You can?” The note of surprise in his tone was not unexpected. 

“Yeah,” Noara answered with a smile. “They teach us more than just fancy hand waving in the Order.”

The quick bark of laughter that escaped made Noara raise both eyebrows in shock. Somehow she hadn’t expected the grumpy soldier to be someone who laughed often. Before she could respond he was talking a mile a minute. “After that show I’m willing to take your word. You’ll have to hurry, the convoy will be there soon but they are traveling under radio silence so we can’t warn them.”

Noara nodded, handing him the datapad Ottau had lent her. “Just mark the location on the map so I know where to go and I’ll leave immediately.” 

Snagging the pad out of her hands, Jorgan quickly input the information. He spoke while he worked, his voice sharper like he was barking orders at one of his subordinates instead of a volunteering Jedi. “The road leads out from the base, it’s even on your way. There’s no telling how many devices there are but they all need to be defused. ASAP.” He passed the pad back to her, “double time it soldier.”

“Soldier?” Noara asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Jorgan grimaced when he realized his slip up, but didn’t move to apologize and she laughed at his obvious discomfort. “No worries LT, I do my best work under pressure.” She shot him her best attempt at a terrible salute before leaving. 

As much fun as poking more fun at the grumpy Cathar would be, she had a bomb to diffuse. 


	2. A Little Divided

**Ord Mantell Countryside**

Noara jogged along followed the road Jorgan had marked on her map, constantly checking the datapad to make sure she didn’t get lost. Finding her way in unfamiliar surroundings had never been her strong suit and with lives on the line it wasn’t a chance she was willing to take. It didn’t take long for her to spot figures in the distance and she quickly ducked out of sight. Carefully, from cover she took a moment to get a lay of the land and decide on the best way to approach the Separatists. When possible, Noara preferred to take her opponents by surprise, that made it easier to subdue instead of kill - which was always her goal if possible. 

In this situation, the planet’s terrain worked in her favor. On one side of the road was an open area, not quite a meadow but the low rolling hills would provide little cover, but the other side had promise. The road was bordered by a rocky ridge, a steady incline upward at least 20 feet above where the road was. From the top she would have a good view of the road, hopefully enough to spot where the bombs were placed and she knew from experience that jumping off a height like that would be no issue. 

In fact it promised to be a lot of fun. 

Having a plan in place, Noara stowed the datapad away and started climbing the section of the cliff she was hiding behind. There it was only about 10 feet, an easy height to scramble up quickly. Once she was standing on top of the ridge, she moved a few feet away from the edge to stay out of sight before continuing toward where she had seen the figures. So far there was no sign of the troop convoy Jorgan had warned her about, but she didn’t want to take any chances wasting time being slow for the sake of caution.

Besides, what kind of Jedi can’t sneak up on a bunch of non-sensitives? A poor one that’s what kind. Noara would be the first to admit there was far more about the Force that she didn’t know than she did, but masking her presence enough to sneak out under the nose of Creche Master Doran’s careful eye back on Naboo had been one of her specialties. 

Even without eyes on them, Noara could sense it when she drew even with the Separatists, both by the gentle hum of sentient minds in the Force and the murmur of voices from the cliffbase. Judging by how loudly these people were speaking, there was no doubt in her mind they weren’t trained military personnel. Soldiers on a covert mission in a warzone would be quieter.  _ Or at least they should be _ , Noara thought, amused when she imagined how Jorgan would chide them for their behavior if they were his men. Somehow she had a feeling he would be very good at giving someone a dressing down for their sloppy work. 

Dropping down to crawl on her belly, Noara moved close enough to the edge of the cliff to peer down discreetly. Almost directly below her were three men, all in what she was starting to recognize as typical seperatist gear and - more importantly - standing around a bomb they were tinkering with. Moving her attention farther out from the cliff base, she spotted two similar groups along the road. If the bombs were remotely activated, as she suspected from what she could see, they would wait to set them off until the entire convoy was inside the blast radius. The damage could be devastating if she didn’t manage to disarm them. 

A rough strategy in mind, Noara pushed off her stomach and up to her feet before stepping off the edge of the cliff. Twisting midair to direct her landing, between the men and the bomb, was an easy feat with the Force. The three men had only a split second to react in surprise before she hit them with a Force wave that knocked all three backward into the rocky cliff base.

After waiting a moment to see if any of them were capable of getting back up, Noara turned her attention to the bomb. It was a very simple model, actually based on one of the ones she had practiced on in her classes and despite being grateful she grimaced. That only supported her theory that the Empire didn’t really care about the war here on Ord Mantell, because if they did they would provide better ordinances. Just the idea of the Empire manipulating the people here for their own purposes made her stomach roll. They didn’t care what happened here, as long as people died and that was more than enough to stir her to anger - an emotion she rarely let herself feel. 

Closing her eyes, Noara took several measured breaths, she needed to calm down before she could even touch the bomb. It was one she was familiar with but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make a mistake if her emotions were out of control. Once her anger had ebbed she opened her eyes to examine the explosive. Despite being confidant about the ordinance model, she double and triple checked the design against her memory before doing anything. Just in case. 

It was like a very high stakes exam with the Jedi who had taught her everything she knew about explosives, right down to following the checklist that Master Atizsdu had drilled into her head. Step one, how many wires? There were four wires. Step two, find the serial number. That step took a bit longer to accomplish but after a moment of searching she found the serial number on the back side of the box and noted that the last number was even. Step three, what colors are the wires? Red, blue, blue, yellow. Despite the bomb’s simple construction, the wire configuration was obviously more updated. Traditionally a bomb like this would have no red wires and the last would be yellow, making it easy to determine that the first wire should be cut. Or there would be only one blue, making it the one to cut. Instead this had criteria that negated the first four possible solutions she had been taught and left her with only one choice. 

Cut the second wire, regardless of color. 

Noara smiled despite her nerves. She truly enjoyed this part of her life, the heart pounding risks and adventure, but she still felt a bit of anxiety when it came to fiddling with something that could explode in her face,  _ literally _ , if she made a mistake. “At least blue is my favorite color,” she muttered to herself, pulling her knife out of the sheath hidden inside her boot. “That’s gotta count for something.”

Slipping the blade under the second wire, Noara took a deep breath before pulling the knife up sharply to sever the wire in one quick, clean cut. For a heartbeat she thought maybe she had messed up but the soft, electrical hum she hadn’t noticed from the bomb stopped as the device was rendered inert. 

Relief washed over her and Noara laughed. Never before had she been grateful to the Empire but right now she was very appreciative they were only providing the separatists with old and outdated supplies, even if their interference here on Ord Mantell upset her. 

Standing and brushing her hands off on her pants before looking back at the unconscious men behind her, she considered what to do with them. After a moment’s hesitation, she started sifting through the men’s packs, hoping to find something to restrain them with. In the second pack she found exactly what she needed, several long coils of rope. It was a good, strong weave used for climbing by people who didn’t have her advantages. Noara had never had a need for climbing equipment before but knew it when she saw it. Quickly Noara tied the men up, shoving the rest of the rope into her own pack. She left them there, trussed up like livestock, at the base of the cliff before moving on to the next spot she’d spotted people in. If they were all as easy to surprise as these three, she could easily have this done before the convoy passed. 

**Ord Mantell Countryside**

Being in the Republic’s most decorated SpecOps team was less than the exciting adventure Darvic had hoped for. So far he had been ordered about and lectured by a man he once peed on as a baby and been blamed for the death of a spy that had perished before he even knew the man’s name. Having to both break the news to the spy’s wife and harass her into handing over the man’s lockbox was the cherry on the top of that experience. Aric’s involvement was annoying, though not surprising. He had expected his family to somehow be involved in his work when he found out he was headed home. Part of him suspected his dad pulled some strings to get Aric involved in Havoc’s assignments to keep an eye on his first mission with the squad. Both men had a protective streak a mile wide but, since Darvic had inherited that trait himself where his little sisters were concerned, it was hard to resent them for it. Hard, but not impossible. 

It had been a surprise that his dad wasn’t hovering over Aric’s shoulder when he handed over Bellis’ lockbox. If Aric hadn’t sent him out again immediately he would have taken the time to ask just how closely his dad was keeping tabs on him, but curiosity about being sent to rendezvous with an apparently bomb savvy Jedi was more than enough to distract him from his dad’s tendency to hover. Darvic had always wanted to meet a Jedi. They were mysterious, larger than life figures that he had heard stories about his entire life. Some of the abilities people claimed they had were hard to believe but he had heard so many stories from different people he was inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. 

Plus it was kind of cool to imagine his big sister being able to do all that crazy stuff. 

Fascination with the stories aside, that was the real reason Darvic was excited to meet this Jedi. What kind of person his older sister might have grown up to be, what her life might have been like, those were questions he had never had any answer for but desperately wanted. Before he was born, when his mother was just barely pregnant with Juli and him, his parents had sent his sister to live with the Jedi. She was born Force sensitive and his parents had no idea how to raise a child who could levitate out of her crib or knock over furniture when she threw a tantrum. She hadn’t even been two years old when the Jedi took her away. His entire life Darvic wanted to meet her and growing up had concocted grand daydreams about the kind of adventures she must be having. Finally getting to meet a Jedi was his first chance to see how close his guesses were. 

It didn't take Darvic long to reach the spot Aric had sent the Jedi to but when he arrived there was no one in sight. Confused, he glanced around trying to spot where the Jedi or the Separatists had gotten to. A crash and a pained groan drew his attention to some boulders alongside the road several yards away. 

Slinging his rifle off his shoulder, Darvic hurried as quietly as he could toward the rocks to investigate. When he rounded the largest of the boulders he found exactly what he had been looking for. 

A small, brown clad woman was fighting a man easily twice her size that Darvic could tell was a Seperatist soldier. The Jedi ducked a large fist aimed at her head but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the other that struck her in the gut. She staggered back a step but from the glint in her eyes he could tell she wasn’t out of the fight. Regardless, he took advantage of the clear shot her movement had given him. He raised his rifle and hit the Sep with two well aimed bolts to the chest.

“No!” The Jedi cried rushing forward as the Sep fell, hands going immediately to the wound to apply pressure. It didn’t take long for her to see it was a lost cause and she fell back on her heels with a defeated expression. Darvic had heard that Jedi were a confusing mix of pacifist and warrior but the glare she pinned him with when she stood was shocking. 

“Why’d you have to shoot him?” 

The Jedi’s voice was soft, pleading, and Darvic was suddenly struck by how young she looked, his age or maybe younger. The realization made him frown as he slung his rifle back over his shoulder. 

“He was attacking you,” he answered honestly. 

“Of course he was, I attacked him first,” she said before wiping her hands off on the grass and standing. She sighed heavily while looking down at the dead man at her feet. After a moment she shook her head and moved to a device Darvic hadn’t noticed at the base of the boulder, one that was obviously a bomb. As she started examining the bomb the Jedi spoke without looking up at him. “I was trying not to hurt anyone more than necessary. The separatists are being used by the Empire to sow chaos, killing them only weakens the Republic in the long run.” 

Davric moved to stand next to the Jedi, leaning around her just enough to get a look at the colored wires she was counting and recounting carefully. “Tell that to the loyal Mantellians they are killing,” he said bitterly. This was his home planet and he knew better than most how much damage this pointless war was doing but he didn’t want to argue with the Jedi over a war neither of them could stop. Hoping to change the subject he asked, “you know what you are doing with that thing?”

After the cool reception he’d received, Darvic was again surprised by the Jedi when she looked up and smiled at him. “Of course I do, this will be the third one I’ve defused today. Haven’t been blown up yet.”

Darvic watched with interest as she pulled a knife out of her boot and, after another moment of tapping each wire and muttering softly, she cut the first of the four wires. “No offense Master Jedi,” he said after she stepped away and he figured he wouldn’t be distracting her, “but I sort of expected you to do something more… impressive to diffuse it.”

The Jedi laughed and turned to face him, giving Darvic his first good look at her face. Despite her youthful features, the spark in intelligence in her eyes made him mentailly add a few years to her age. Not much but at least enough to be sure she wasn’t a literal kid. 

“Believe it or not,” she said with a cheeky grin, “there are limits to what the Force can do.”

“I’ll have to take your word on that,” Davric said before realizing he hadn’t introduced himself. Something about the Jedi made him feel more relaxed than he should have been for the situation, chatting with her felt more natural than deferring to her with the respect her station deserved. “I’m Sergeant Darvic Lewton ma’am, Lieutenant Jorgan sent me to see if you needed assistance.”

The Jedi grimaced, “please don’t call me ‘ma’am’, I’m Knight Noara Starspark, but you can just call me Noara if you want Sergeant Lewton.” 

Darvic felt like he had been slugged in the gut. That was the last name he expected to hear and he couldn't help but wonder if he had jinxed himself somehow by thinking about his sister so much on the way. Noara. That was her name, but not Starspark - which if he was honest was a bit silly sounding for a name but who was he to judge? No, Noara Lewton was his older sister’s name and the galaxy was far too large of a place to even imagine this was his sister. It made his chest hurt to realize that even if Noara was still alive, this might be the closest he’d ever come to meeting her. 

“Lewton?” Noara, but not  _ his _ Noara, asked. “Any relation to the Major?”

That drew Darvic’s attention from his internal crisis. “You know my dad?”

Noara smiled, “I had a feeling that was the connection. He was with Lieutenant Jorgan when we spoke.”

“I  _ knew _ he was keeping tabs on me, damnit,” Darvic groaned, remembering the way Aric had reamed him for not reaching Bellis in time. His dad witnessing that was not ideal. 

“I don’t understand,” Noara said, frowning in confusion, “is that a problem?”

Darvic sighed, “not a problem persay, but annoying. The old man’s a bit of a hover-parent, him knowing right away if I mess up is just more pressure I don’t want, you know?” Noara was looking at him blankly but he wasn’t sure where he lost her. “Knight Starspark?”

Noara shook her head, “sorry. What's a hover-parent?”

“Really?” Darvic blurted out, genuinely surprised she wasn’t familiar with the term. “You know, parents that hover over their kids all the time, constantly watching them and interfering whenever they see fit?” 

“Isn’t that what parents are supposed to do?” Noara asked, stepping closer to him with such a look of confusion on her face it was hard not to laugh until he realized something. 

“How old were you?” Darvic asked, “when the Jedi took you I mean.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because that’s pretty much how parents work. Don’t you remember-” His holo ringing interrupted his question. Pulling it out he didn’t even bother to check the display before answering it, there were only two people it might be. 

“Report Lewton,” Aric snapped, no sign of the man who routinely cuddled with Darvic’s baby sister Baylee. The rambunctious two-year old would be stunned silent by the harsh tone from her favorite person in the entire world. 

“Yes sir,” Darvic replied, still grinning at the mental image of his baby sister climbing all over the grumpy man. “Found Knight Starspark diffusing the last bomb, should be clear for the convoy and clean up.” 

“You also have seven hogtied separatists out here that need to be taken into custody,” Noara said, suddenly standing next to Darvic and leaning into the holo’s camera range. “You would have eight but someone had an itchy trigger finger.” She pointed in Darvic’s direction, not even trying to be subtle at the accusation.

Darvic sighed as the Jedi moved back out of range, only half listening while Aric gave him an estimated timeline of when a cleanup crew would be there as well as orders to guard the prisoners in the meantime. Instead he was watching Noara as she knelt down next to the dead man and gently closed his open, glassy eyes. She closed her own eyes and whispered something too softly for him to hear. He nodded absently when he heard Aric dismissing him and clicked his holo off. 

“Are you really that upset that I killed an enemy?” he asked, not even bothering to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill either of us.”

“You don’t know that,” Noara said softly, standing back up and turning to face him. “I’m not naive, you know. I do get it. You’re a soldier and you are trained to fight one way, and I was trained another but there’s merit in sparing an enemy when you can. You don’t always have to shoot to kill.”

“What merit is there in sparing him?” Darvic was truly curious what she saw in the large man that had hit her hard enough he was sure she’d be sore and bruised tomorrow. 

“Someday the people of this planet are going to have to make peace with one another. The Empire is behind all this you know, pushing the separatists to violence and supplying them. All that is being accomplished here is weakening the Republic so we are at a bigger disadvantage when the treaty finally breaks.” Noara’s voice was deadly serious as she gave him her view on the situation before suddenly grinning and clapping her hands together. “Anyway, I have my own mission to get to, if you head over toward the cliffs from here you will find your new friends. Try not to shoot any of them.”

Davric gave a startled laugh and shook his head. “I’ll do my best. It was interesting meeting you Noara.”

“You too,” she said, giving him a cheery wave before turning and jogging away in the direction of Oradam Village. 

It wasn’t until the Jedi was out of sight that Darvic realized he never finished asking his question. By her confusion he could guess that Noara didn’t remember her parents but surely that was because she was just an infant when they took her. Right? His Noara was two. She had two years of family and loving care, even if she didn’t remember exact moments the memory of that love had to stick with her. He might never meet her but he needed her to know how loved she was even by her siblings that never got to meet her. 

Putting thoughts of his sister out of his mind, Darvic set off toward the cliff to find the ‘new friends’ the Jedi had left for him. He might even keep himself from shooting one of them, but only because she asked nicely. 

**Rendia Freight**

Juli watched Turral pace back and forth in Viidu’s dining room with a mix of pity and amusement. Watching the cocky zabrak’s ego cut to size was satisfying but anytime Skavak came out on top made her feel queasy. That man was the definition of a slimy bastard and deserved the fate of one, not a free ship full of weapons. 

It had surprised Viidu and Corso when Skavak’s true colors were shown but not Juli. The man had always given her a sleazy vibe and made it apparent that himself, and credits, were his top priority. A man like that could never be loyal to anyone but himself so his betrayal wasn’t even out of character. 

Viidu and Corso were on the other side of the room, heads bent over the computer terminal where they were working on slicing the files the Captain had retrieved. It was going to take them a while, she knew how good the Seps had gotten at protecting their data, but watching Turral pace she wasn’t sure he had the patience for it at all. 

Sighing, Juli pushed out of her chair and walked over to where they were working. Corso looked up at her approach but Viidu was so absorbed he didn’t until she cleared her throat loudly. When she knew she had his attention she perched her hands on her hips and fixed her boss with a serious look. “Are you  _ sure _ there isn’t something we can do other than twiddle our thumbs waiting on ya’ll?”

Viidu looked past her to where Turral was now sitting on the edge of the table fiddling with his blaster. “Ah yeah, I see what you mean,” he said softly before standing and smiling. “I have a special job I need you to do, Captain.”

Turral looked up from his gun, “I think you are mistaking me for one of your employees old man.”

“Like you have anything better to do at the moment,” Viidu said, brushing off the zabrak’s annoyance easily. “This will help us both in the end anyway, we need to distract Rogan with something he wants more, or almost more, than those weapons.”

“And what could he want almost as much as those weapons, remember I know exactly what kind of firepower I was hauling before it was stolen.”

“A scientist nearby has his own special blend of chemicals that Rogan is constantly on the lookout for, if he can find someone daring enough to get it.”

Corso jerked his head up in surprise, “the Big Boom Run? Are you kidding boss?”

“He’s right though Corso,” Juli said, smiling, “some of Trymbo’s special cocktail would make Rogan’s day.”

“I know but it's blasted risky Jules,” Corso said, rubbing that back of his neck. “Handle that stuff wrong and it’s all over.” 

Turral grimaced, “that sounds pleasant.”

“Then it’s a good thing I am coming with you isn’t it? Don’t worry Captain, I’ll keep you in one piece.”

“Wait a minute, no you aren’t Julies!” Corso swung around to face her, “this is too dangerous.”

“Is it? But it’s okay for the Captain to go?” Juli sighed, she should have expected this. She had worked with Corso for the last few months and he had made his feelings where women were concerned clear. It wasn’t that he thought less of them, or that they weren’t capable but he definitely thought they needed protecting. It was something she had chafed at her whole life, with a protective father, godfather and her brother. It didn’t matter that Darvic was only barely older than her, he had a very well developed big brother complex for both Juli and their baby sister. Corso just… took it to a different level. 

Really she suspected he carried a torch for her, but since he had never broached the subject neither did she. Maybe someday, but that wasn’t today and as a friend he had no say in the risks she chose to take. 

Before Corso could wind up his next round of protests, Juli raised her hand to ward him off. “I can and will do whatever I want Corso Riggs, besides Trymbo lives near my place. He’s flighty even on his best days, but usually remembers his neighbors.”

The surprise on Corso’s face was almost satisfying, but she didn’t stick around to gloat. Turning on her heel and waving at Turral she made her way to the door before a full argument broke out.


	3. Stealing From Tomorrow

**Secret Imperial Outpost**

Noara slumped against the computer console as Lieutenant Marcovic’s body hit the floor and hissed in pain as she pressed her hand against her side. Warm, sticky blood quickly covered her hand. The cut wasn’t deep, but it was going to require attention sooner rather than later. Not for the first time she wished that Kira had accompanied her. Fighting her way into the base would have been easier with another saber at her side, even if T7 knew his way around a fight, but her padawan was also better equipped to help patch her up than an astromech. 

Looking down, Noara frowned at the red coating seeping between her fingers, before digging in her pack with her other hand for the small medkit she had grabbed on her way off the Defender. She sighed when she saw the contents of the medkit, just a few bandages and a single kolto injector. It wasn’t near enough to mend her wound but would have to do until she got back to the ship. After unwrapping her tunics enough to stick a self-adhering bandage over the cut, Noara righted her clothing and pushed off the console she was leaning against to see how T7’s search of the computer database was progressing. 

“How’s it going Tee?”

The droid’s top spun around to look at her. “T7 = Located design files code-named “Desolator” // Darth Angral = creating world-killer weapon using Republic technology.”

Noara cringed and felt a very un-Jedi like swell of anger. Anything called ‘Desolator’ couldn’t possibly be good, what was the Republic thinking developing weapons that could kill billions of people in a single strike? It was even worse that they did it in the name of avenging the Jedi lost in the invasion of Coruscant. No Jedi that respected the code would want innocents to die in their name, even if they were Imperial citizens.

“I have a bad feeling about this one,” Noara said, patting the droid on the head. “Get everything you can and wipe the records.”

“T7 = bad feeling too,” the droid whistled, agreeing with her before his top twisted to face the dead body near her feet. “Name: Marcovic + Rank: Lieutenant = non-functional?”

“I didn’t want to kill him, he should’ve surrendered.” Noara meant it too, she hadn’t wanted to kill anyone on this mission. There was a difference between striking down a Sith bent on trapping billions of people on Coruscant to place them at his mercy like Tarnis and killing the Imperial forces stationed at this secret base on a backwater planet. Today she had taken more lives than at any other time in her life while making her way into the lower level of the secret facility the Empire was running here, and she knew it would be a long time before she was at peace with what she had done. 

“Imperial organics = not logical.”

T7’s unexpected commentary made Noara chuckle, for a droid he had a very strong personality. “I think that’s true of most organics. All those pesky emotions.”

“Jedi = peace no emotion. Logical.”

“Yeah, there is no emotion,” Noara said with a nod, even as a heavy feeling settled in her gut. That was the part of being a Jedi where she knew she was a failure, her emotions were always far too near the surface and it was a constant struggle to keep them in check.

“Desolator files = downloaded // T7 electromagnetic pulse + hyperspace data transceiver = permanent file erasure.” T7 chirped triumphantly before unplugging from the console and rolling away. “Jedi + T7 = return to ship // General Var Suthra = needs report.”

Noara sighed and rolled her eyes, “yeah let’s go tell him which of his mass death machines the Sith are going to use against us next.”

* * *

Leaving the Empire’s secret base on the Oradam peninsula was physically easier than getting to it. It helped that Noara had disabled the patrol droids and killed all the guards on the way in. Walking past their corpses was an entirely new trial for her. Death had never been a big part of her life, though she always knew it inevitably would be. Feeling a guilty pang for each life she cut short as she passed the evidence made her wonder if it would be better or worse when she was accustomed enough not to care so much. 

Despite the stitch in her side where she had been injured, Noara could breathe much easier when she left the evidence of her actions behind. Now that she was back in the open air and no longer surrounded by death she was reminded how much she liked the planet’s terrain, rife with violence though it was. The rocky formations were perfect for hiking and climbing. If Jedi ever got vacations Ord Mantell would be high on her list of places she wanted to spend one at. Sadly that was not likely to happen so she would have to settle for the bit of hiking she had gotten to do between objectives. 

It took Noara longer to walk the distance between the base and Fort Garnik this time, even though she knew getting the information to the general was important. She was just too tired to rush, and the single kolto dose had only taken the edge off the pain until she started walking. T7 had tried to send a message to the Defender, to pass on some of what they knew to Kira so she could make a partial report but there was no answer. She tried not to let that worry her, the headstrong padawan had mentioned checking out the spaceport even if she thought the facility was seedy, but it was a losing battle. 

Reminding herself that Kira could take care of herself, Noara forced her worries down and focused on the warm breeze and the smell of salt water in the air. Soon she would be trapped inside a ship again, with recycled air and close quarters. Until then she wanted to soak in as much as she could. When they arrived at Fort Garnik T7 led her back to where they had met Agent Ottau earlier, something she was secretly grateful for because she got easily turned around in new places. 

The agent was studying the datapad in his hand, proof the one he lent her wasn’t the only one he had, and he didn’t notice their approach until T7 whistled to get his attention. He looked up and his eyes widened in surprise. “Back already? That was quicker than I expected.”

Noara nodded, “it helps not to be a probe droid. Darth Angral’s base is vacated now, could use a clean up but my mission was only half successful. Tee downloaded everything he could and deleted it from the servers there.”

“Some intel is better than none, we will take whatever we can get,” Ottau said, holding a hand out for Noara to pass the borrowed datapad back. “Thanks for taking out the base while you were here, any less hideyholes for the Empire is a good thing. I’ll get a team together and secure the island.”

“Good, the facility might have more to salvage than the computer files,” Noara said, raising a hand and pointing behind her. “I gotta get this information to the general, thanks for all your help.”

“Always happy to help the Jedi,” Agent Ottau said, already pouring over his datapad again. Figuring that was good enough, Noara turned and started making her way toward the spaceport. T7 was directing her to take a left turn when someone called out to her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Major Lewton striding toward her, a smile on his lips. 

“Knight Starspark, it’s good to see you again,” he said, stopping just short of arm’s reach away from her. “I wanted to thank you for your help with the bombs, my son was very impressed with how quickly you disarmed it.”

Noara smiled, “it was my pleasure to help though he must not have told you how disappointed he was I didn’t use the Force to disarm the bombs.”

Lewton nodded, laughing quietly. “That sounds like my son,” he said before frowning. “Were you injured?”

Noara followed his gaze down to her side and grimaced when she saw that her wound had bled through the bandage she had put on it. “Yeah, one of the Imperials I dealt with was pretty good with his vibrosword. Nothing too serious.”

“Not too serious?” Lewton raised an eyebrow at her, “you’re bleeding through what looks like a few layers of clothing. You need to see a medic.”

For a moment Noara considered waving the Major off, she needed to get back to the ship, but he was right about how much she was bleeding. The walk had obviously pulled on the cut and opened it more, staining her best tunics. “Yeah,” she conceded, “I probably do. Can you point me in the right direction?”

“I can do one better, let me escort you.” Lewton was smiling as he motioned for her to follow him but she could see the worry in his eyes. It was strange, not exactly welcome, but definitely unexpected. In fact for some reason she didn’t understand, this kind man worrying about her wellbeing made her want to smile.

Brushing off the conflicting emotions she was feeling, Noara let him lead her to the infirmary. She didn’t worry about whether they would be willing to treat her or not, the Jedi had access to all Republic military medical stations. After showing her ID chip the Twi’lek nurse had immediately whisked her away from Major Lewton to a curtained area where she could remove her robes in private 

The nurse was very professional, quickly getting the cut cleaned and prepped for sutures as well as giving her a more substantial kolto and painkiller shot than the one she had before. After a few minutes of waiting the doctor came in, took a few swabs to check for infection and stitched her together. 

Noara didn’t pay much attention while they worked, instead her focus was fixed on the break in the curtains where she could see Major Lewton. He was leaning against the far wall, scrolling through a datapad, making notations occasionally and often looking up to glance her way.

There was something odd about the way the man was paying attention to her. Noara wasn’t used to anyone focusing so much on her; for most people she was pretty interchangeable with any other Jedi, nothing special that made her stand out from the rest of the Order’s members. She could almost feel his concern for her, but because he only had the very minimal Force aura that most people did so she was sure her mind had imagined it. No one worried about her, why would a man she had only exchanged a few words with? 

Noara was debating if she should ask about it or just thank the man for being so considerate when the doctor said he was done and started asking if she needed any painkillers to take later. By the time she had finished packing up the medications and signing a release form, Major Lewton had left. She frowned as she looked around, hoping to catch sight of the older man but he was nowhere near the infirmary. If she had time, she would have gone looking for him, but T7 reminded her that they needed to report to General Var Suthra so she allowed the droid to lead her toward the spaceport. 

**Infantry Command Center**

Darvic could tell something had changed when he walked into the Command Center. It had always been bustling with activity but there was a charge in the air that hadn’t been there before. At first he assumed it was because they had finally gotten a solid clue as to where the ZR-57 was located and Havoc was getting ready to hit the sep base but when he got a good look at the room he was surprised to see no sign of his squad. 

“Welcome back sergeant,” Aric called from the side of the room, beckoning him over. Darvic moved to stand next to him, nodding respectfully at the serious faced Cathar. It was still odd, behaving so distant to someone he had known his entire life but he appreciated that Aric had treated him the same way he would any other soldier. Darvic couldn’t hide his connection to his father, but no one needed to know the LT overseeing his missions had once changed his diapers. 

“Pull up a seat, you can observe the op with me.”

“Observing what op?” Darvic blurted out, unable to hold back his surprise before realization hit him like a sack of bricks. “They went after the bomb without me, didn’t they?”

Aric nodded, folding his arms across his chest and giving Darvic a stern look - obviously not approving of his tone. “Havoc Squad is infiltrating the sep stronghold as we speak. They left as soon as you relayed the intel.”

Clenching his hands into fists Darvic tried to keep his cool. After all he had done to find the damn bomb, they went without him? They wouldn’t even know where to go if he hadn’t done all the leg work for them. A hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts and he looked up to see his godfather, not the stern lieutenant that had been dogging him since he arrived, looking at him. 

“I know your mad kid and I get it. Tavus didn’t want you along for this mission despite doing the footwork for it.” Aric spoke quietly, keeping the exchange as private as possible in a room full of soldiers and techs. “That doesn’t mean you haven’t done well. He will see that, you just need to be patient. Being the new guy in an established squad is never easy.”

Darvic nodded. He still wasn’t happy about being excluded from the op, but Aric had a good point and it would be a lie to say he didn’t preen a bit internally at the compliment. Godfather or not, Aric Jorgan was a hard man to impress so he knew the words were sincere. 

Giving his shoulder a final, reassuring squeeze, Aric stepped away and Darvic could almost see the change back from caring godfather to hard ass officer. Dad had always said there were two sides to Aric, that he was a completely different person in uniform, but Darvic had always had a hard time believing it until seeing it for himself. It burned knowing Tavus didn’t trust him to be on the op, but the man was a legend. He must have his reasons. For now he would just have to trust his CO’s judgment until he could prove himself.

“Lieutenant!” One of the technicians suddenly spun around in their chair, panic evident on their face. “Sir, we have a situation!”

Aric was immediately at the tech’s side, leaning over their shoulder as they turned back to their console. “Talk to me.”

“We’ve lost all contact with Havoc Squad sir,” the tech said, tapping furiously at the various screens and buttons at their workstation. “Comms, video, positions. All of it just went dark, like they disappeared completely.”

“Unacceptable soldier,” Aric snapped, “I don’t care how you do it, get me their status.”

Darvic’s mind was racing, trying desperately to figure out how this could have happened. Havoc wasn’t the kind of squad to just go dark, had the Seps known they were coming? Remembering how much Jaller, the villager he had gotten the intel from, had vehemently protested when her husband had answered his questions. Could they have betrayed them and warned the seps?

Not that it mattered much now, figuring out how they went dark would be a problem to address once they were back in one piece. 

“Let me go after them Lieutenant.” Darvic knew it was a long shot, but he couldn’t stay here where it was safe when his team, no matter how new, was in danger. 

Aric shot him a look. “That would be a direct violation of Tavus’ orders,” he said with a scowl.

“Still no signal from Havoc Squad, sir.” The tech said, pausing to look up uncertainly at Aric. “It's possible we may have lost them.”

“C’mon Aric, let me go after them!” Darvic said, his emotions getting the better of him and making him forget to address his godfather as his superior officer. “They could be in trouble and we can’t just leave them there to save themselves or to die trying.”

The Command Center, formerly buzzing with activity, froze as all eyes turned to see how Aric Jorgan would respond to the breach in protocol. Davric forgot that not everyone knew how close Aric was to the Lewton family. Hell, he was dad’s best friend but the old man still called him Jorgan instead of Aric. As Aric stared him down, his expression unreadable even to Darvic, it was like all the air had been let out of the room. Darvic was sure he was about to get his first real dressing down from the Cathar, one that would put all the surliness his godfather had thrown his way so far to shame.

When Aric finally broke the tense silence, his voice was deathly serious. “You think you’re up to this?” 

Davric nodded. He had been assigned to Havoc for a reason, he had to believe he had it in him. 

“Alright,” Aric said with a firm nod, turning away from Darvic to address the room. “Listen up people. This mission will not fail on our watch. We cannot let that bomb get away. They said infiltrating that stronghold was a mission only Havoc Squad could pull off and lucky for us, we have one Havoc trooper left. I want every bit of surveillance data we have for the area updated and reviewed. Something happened to Tavus and his team and we need to figure out what it was. Anything to give the Sergeant here an edge.”

Immediately everyone in the room scrambled to follow his orders. Aric had that effect on people. When he snapped out a command it was taken seriously. While they worked Aric approached him, a datastick in hand. “You got this kid. Tavus shouldn’t have left you behind, but maybe that will be what saves the day. The Seps can’t keep that bomb.”

Davic nodded. “I know.” Just the thought of their enemies having a bomb with that kind of destructive potential chilled him to the bone. Not because he was well within the blast radius, he had accepted his choice in career meant he was putting his life on the line, but because everyone he loved except his older sister Noara was. His father was stationed at the Fort along with Aric and right now his mom and baby sister would be at home going through their usual evening routine. Juli was around somewhere, the shipping company she worked for was located on base. If that bomb went off right now, none of them stood a chance of surviving. Why the Republic had even made a bomb like that, much less let the seps steal it, was beyond his comprehension. “Should I confirm Havoc Squad’s status? Or focus on the bomb?” Finding and retrieving the bomb would be much easier with the rest of his team after all. 

“As much as we need to know what happened, the ZR-57 is your primary objective. Once it’s dealt with we’ll see what we can do for Tavus and the others. We were hoping to get the bomb back intact, but we’re way south of a best-case scenario here. So here's the new plan.” Aric held out the datastick, “we have the deactivation code for the ZR-57. We disarm the bomb- leaving the Seps with nothing but a big, radioactive paperweight.”

After handing over the datastick, Aric looked at him with a pained expression. “I never thought it would come to this Darvic but I don’t need to tell you what happens if you don’t pull this off.”

“No you don’t. I haven’t failed a mission yet, I won’t start today.”

Aric almost smiled at his confidant proclamation. Instead he clapped Darvic on the shoulder and gave him a firm shake. “That’s what I like to hear. Just promise to play it safe out there. We have no room for error on this one and your mother will never forgive me if you get hurt out there.”

“Can’t have that, can we?” Darvic said, giving his godfather a posture perfect salute. “I’ll come back in one piece.” 

“Good, now get yourself a transport out to Oradam Village and we’ll send you our updated intel by the time you land.”

Aric didn’t have to formally dismiss him for Darvic to know it was time to go. With a parting nod, he hurried out of the Command Center to see about that ride. Despite the danger he was marching into, his heart was racing with as much excitement as anxiety. This was just the kind of adventure he had wanted when he decided to follow his father’s footsteps. He wanted to make the galaxy a safer place for his little sisters to grow up in, he just never expected it to be this literal. 

* * *

As soon as Darvic had left, a heavy weight had settled in Aric’s gut. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had just sent his godson to his death. Being able to watch his progress through the camera mounted on his shoulder was a cold comfort as the situation unfolded and the true scope of the danger made itself apparent. More Seps than any of their intel had indicated they had and, just like he had suspected, Imperials backing them up. 

Damn that Tavus, the Havoc Squad leader had brushed off his suspicions that the Empire had a hand in the separatist movement. If he had taken Aric’s concerns more seriously they could have avoided the mess they were in now. Being unprepared when going into the field was like asking for a disaster to happen but no one ever died from overprepardness. Better to be paranoid than dead. 

The only comfort so far was that Darvic had managed to deactivate the ZR-57. Hopefully all the Seps and Imps carting it around would get a nasty case of radiation poisoning, they deserved it for all the trouble they were causing. Now that the bomb was out of commission, he was tempted to pull the kid back. It was only the realization that if any other soldier in the same position he wouldn’t consider pulling out of the field just because it was getting dicey. Lewton and Aric had spoken at length when they found out Darvic would be reporting directly to Aric that they had to do everything they could to keep from being accused of nepotism. The kid was young and the way he had been rocketed up from his former posting to Havoc was suspect enough - something neither of them had been able to find the reason for yet. 

So instead of ordering Darvic out of that hellhole where he could confirm he was safe and in one piece he bit his tongue and kept his focus glued to the screens in front of him. He almost fell over when Darvic rounded a corner and found not only the now useless bomb, but also Havoc Squad - safe and not even ruffled - surrounded by Imperial forces. Even more disturbing was that every gun in the hangar was focused on Darvic, not a single one on the five other SpecForce troopers. 

Despite knowing how bad that looked, part of Aric hoped that could be explained but when Tavus’ voice came through the speakers everything about his tone confirmed the worst. Leaning forward to brace himself on the computer console Aric couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen. Distantly he was aware that everyone else in the room was as focused as he was, but the only thing that mattered was the sound of Darvic trying to reason with the traitorous troopers. As long as Darvic was still talking, the kid was still alive. 

Darvic, his only godson, being the one to discover their treachery and the danger that put him in just compounded how terrible the situation was. Aric had sent the young soldier alone to check on his team and now there was a very real possibility he had sent him to his death. Darvic was a skilled soldier, there was a reason he had been assigned to Havoc at such a young age, but there was only so much a single man could do against a team of Havoc’s calibur - Imperial backup or not. 

Unfortunately it was too late to send back up, based on Gearbox’s comment that they needed to go. Havoc would be gone before anyone could reach the Sep base to help. 

“Colonel Vorr? Please give this sergeant the warrior’s death he deserves,” Tavus said. His tone being so calm and casual while leaving Darvic to be killed infuriated Aric. For that alone Tavus would be sorry he ever came to Ord Mantell if Aric ever got his hands on him. Aric held his breath, barely hearing Darvic’s cocksure retort a moment before blaster fire drowned out any other sound from the feed. 

Despite listening as closely as possible to the feed, Aric couldn’t tell if any of the cries of pain he heard were his godson’s. When everything suddenly fell silent for one sickening moment he feared the worst until a string of muttered curses filled the command center. 

One of the younger techs made a choking sound as they tried not to laugh inappropriately and Aric cleared his throat loudly. The tech’s face flushed and she turned away from him, focusing on her computer again and Darvic’s cursing halted. 

“You still there LT?” Darvic said, exhaustion in his voice evident. 

“Yeah, I’m here Lewton.” Aric replied, wishing he had eyes on the kid. “Holding up?”

Darvic groaned, “I’ve been better. Don’t suppose I could get an evac?”

Aric turned to the logistics officer in the room and, after the man nodded, answered. “Enroute, you good to rendezvous at the outpost at the base of the mountain?”

“Sir for a ride I could hike to the top of this damn thing, just get me out of here.”


	4. Falling into Place

**Infantry Command Center**

Aric had just received confirmation that Darvic had been picked up when General Vander walked into the command center. The older man immediately gestured for Aric to join him on the far side of the room and Aric was already dreading confirming Havoc’s defection. He knew the General monitored their operations and it stood to reason he had caught this newest development. 

The frown on the older man’s face certainly supported the assumption. 

“This is bad Jorgan.” Vander rarely wasted time with preambles or niceties, something Aric had always appreciated about the General. “I already had to report this to the brass and they are livid. They assigned their top team here for a few weeks and they defect to the empire?”

Aric scoffed. “This was far too planned out for them to have not been setting this up for some time. It isn't our fault the cowards turned, they decided to do this long before coming to Ord Mantell.”

“I know that,” Vander nodded ”but the brass wants someone punished for it. They need someone to swing for it.”

Those words turned Aric’s blood to ice. “What did they do?”

Vander held his hands up, “before I tell you, it’s important to know they wanted to bust you down a rank, promote Lewton’s kid and put him in charge of a new Havoc roster. With you as his only subordinate.”

Mentally scrambling to figure out what that meant, and digesting the fact the brass wanted to demote him for someone else’s fuckup because he knew there was no way he had convinced the Republic’s most decorated squad to defect. “What?” Aric growled before he could stop the outward show of anger. “How could they justify that? My record is exemplary.” 

“It’s the brass Jorgan, they don’t have to justify anything.” Vander shook his head, “lucky for you I have some connections. You aren’t being demoted, actually in all but rank and pay it’s basically a promotion.”

Still glaring at the General, Aric’s expression softened slightly in confusion. “Whatever it is, just say it.”

“The short version is the brass is pinning this on you so I talked them into letting you clean up your own mess,” Vander said, dropping a hand on Aric’s shoulder. “Congratulations, you are officially the new CO of Havoc Squad.”

“What?” 

As one, Aric and General Vander turned to face the new voice. Darvic stood just a few feet away, disheveled and obviously having just arrived from the field. 

“Sergeant I believe you’ve met _General_ Vander?” Aric said, teeth clenched tightly as he hoped the kid would realize his blunder. 

Thankfully, as if a lifetime around the military finally snapped into place again, Darvic straightened his posture and gave his two superior officers a chrisp salute. 

Smirking, Vander waved the salute off. “At ease Lewton,” he said, pausing long enough for Darvic to relax into parade rest before continuing. “It’s good to see at least one member of Havoc is still loyal to the Republic. Good work disabling the bomb, there is no telling how many lives you saved by ensuring our enemies cannot use it.”

Vander turned his attention back to Aric. “The duty of rebuilding the squad is yours Jorgan. Lewton here will stay on the rooster, he has earned it.”

“Thank you sir,” Aric nodded. “I cannot thank you enough for saving my career.”

“You’re a good man, and we need good people now more than ever. The treaty isn’t going to hold much longer and I can’t imagine what Tavus is planning but few know the inner workings of our military better than him.” Vander sighed heavily. “The destruction he and his cohorts could cause is limitless.”

“Were we able to get a fix on where they are heading?” Aric’s mind was already racing through strategies of how the traitors could be tracked. Finding and eliminating threats used to be his life, it wouldn’t be hard to fall back into that routine. 

“They slipped offword before we could mobilize to track them. That’s your first job as Havoc’s new CO Jorgan, hunt them down and neutralize the threat they pose to the Republic. I don’t doubt it will be a difficult task, but I have every confidence you can do it.”

Aric shot a look toward Darvic, noting the younger man’s obvious surprise. It was easy to see that the day was quickly becoming overwhelming but he was pleased to see the determined glint in Darvic’s bright blue eyes after the shock passed. Aric recognized that even if he hadn’t intended to go back into the field this was an honor and one he wouldn’t trade away lightly. It was also a comfort to know he would be able to look after his godson, the idea of the rookie being made the head of Havoc and turned loose into the galaxy was not a comforting one. 

“What are our orders, sir?” Aric asked, turning his attention back to Vander. 

Vander pulled out his datapad, tapping away as he started speaking. “Your next assignment will come straight from General Garza, the head of SpecForce Division. You should be leaving for Coruscant immediately but there was an incident at the space station that has all departures and arrivals on standby. Tomorrow morning I’ll have a shuttle to Carrick Station prepped for you.” He looked up at the newly formed Havoc Squad, “I’ve sent you all the details I have. You should both get a good night’s rest, who knows when you will have the chance again. Dismissed.”

Aric and Darvic saluted the General as he turned on a heel and left the Command Center. Once he was out of sight, Darvic dropped his shoulders and let out a deep breath. “Did that really just happen?”

“Yes it did, you know what this means right?” Aric asked, smirking at the flash of confusion in Darvic’s eyes. “It means you are _my_ rookie now, soldier.”

Darvic grinned. “Well in that case Aric, you get to explain to my parents what happened.”

**Fort Garnik**

The careful way Turral was carrying the container Trymbo had given them amused Juli to no end. Yes it needed to be carried carefully, but he was holding it like a baby, cradled close to his chest to keep it from being jostled. It was so at odds with his appearance, the crown of horns around his head and the leather outrigger wear, but almost fitting. There was something about the idea of a rough man holding a child that pretty much every woman was a sucker for. Stars knew, Juli was. 

Of course, Juli kept these thoughts to herself. Despite spending most of the day with the smuggler, she didn’t know him well enough to push those buttons. Yet 

They had almost reached the Rendia Freight building when movement by a neighboring building caught her attention. She automatically glanced that way and had to take a second look when she realized what she had seen. 

“Darvic?”

Looking over at her call, Darvic grinned and started a half jog in her direction. Juli waved at Turral, “go on without me Captain.”

Turral noticed the soldier approaching them and frowned, “didn’t figure you for being cozy with the military.”

Juli shrugged, “it’s sort of the family business. I’m the black sheep of the family. Tell Viidu I’ll check in later, but Butcher breathing down our necks or not family comes first.”

Laughing, Turral shook his head. “Sure I’ll tell him girly, but I don’t think he will like it.”

An armor plated arm wrapping around her shoulder and pulling her against an equally armored chest distracted her from replying. Instead she wrapped her arms around her twin brother’s waist and hugged him tightly. “It’s really you.”

Juli felt his chin brush against her head as he nodded, “it is. I missed you Jellybee.” 

Pulling away so she could see his face, Juli returned the grin he was giving her. “When did you get here? Are you stationed here or just passing through?”

Darvic’s smile dimmed and he shifted his hold on her, tucking her into his side and starting to walk toward the taxi service. “Passing through, I ship out to Coruscant in the morning but first - we have to have a family dinner. Even Aric is coming.”

“Bay will love that,” Juli said, smiling at the thought of her sister’s excitement. While all three Lewton children loved Aric like a second father there was a special relationship between him and their baby sister. She had more than once declared she was going to marry Aric when she “growed” up. “Does mom know you and Aric will be over for dinner?”

“Not yet, wanna come give her the good news?” Juli didn’t even need to look to know Darvic had a shit eating grin on his face, she knew as well as he did how excited their mother would be to see him. If there was one thing Jilleste Lewton loved, it was having her family all together and getting to feed them. 

Well, _most_ of the family. It had been a while since Juli had thought of her, but in their home it was hard to miss that there should have been a third Lewton girl running around. Her picture, as a chubby cheeked toddler with dark pigtails, had pride of place on the mantel in the main room. It was surrounded by an ever changing set of pictures of the others, swapped out as the years went by more recent images, but Noara’s always stayed the same. 

Some might call that kind of consistency comforting, but it annoyed Juli to no end because it served as a reminder she would never meet the woman her sister grew up into. She didn’t resent her parents for doing what they thought was best for Noara, the big sister she never got to know, but would forever mourn being denied that relationship. 

Forcing her depressing thoughts away, Juli pulled out from under her brother’s arm and shot him a smile. “C’mon, mom’ll need help getting ready. Last one to the taxi has to peel the vegetables.” Laughing like the carefree children they once were, they raced the rest of the way toward the taxi stand.

**Garnik Command Center**

Braxtol Lewton felt like all the air had been let out of the room. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think clearly. All he could do was stare at the positive test results Doctor Hyruta had sent him. It was one thing to suspect, and secretly hope that he was right. It was another thing to find out he actually was.

Seeing the young Jedi Knight, Noara Starspark, walk into the Command Center earlier was like being thrown back into the past. If her eyes had been brown he would have sworn on his life that was his wife standing there - just 20 years younger. She was such a dead ringer than when she said her name it was hard not to react. Only the surname she was using, Starspark, stopped him. 

The idea that his own daughter was denied the use of the one thing he was able to leave her with when the Jedi took her hurt, more than he could have imagined. It would hurt if she had chosen to drop their family name but it was worse than that. She hadn’t shown any recognition of the name when they met. Despite her resemblance of his wife as a young woman that cast doubt on his suspicion. Either she was an uncanny doppelganger of his wife, coincidently bearing the same name as his first born child, or she didn’t know her own name. 

Running into the Jedi when she returned to the base was less coincidence and more manufactured luck, he felt no shame admitting that he had waited for her. Somehow he knew if he didn’t find a way to confirm her identity he would never get a chance like this again. Her being injured was both a punch to the gut, filling him with fatherly concern for the young woman, and a serendipitous turn. After escorting her to a medic it wasn’t difficult to call in a favor with the doctor and ask him to run a DNA test. The Twi’lek was a father of two young boys and as such was sympathetic to Braxtol’s plight.

And now he knew. 

Jedi Knight Noara Starspark was his daughter. 

The daughter they had reluctantly let the Jedi take in to teach her how to use her gifts, powers they couldn’t even fathom let alone guide her with. The daughter they never stopped loving or mourning the loss of. Stunned wasn’t a strong enough word for what he felt as the full impact of this chance meeting hit him. The Jedi who took Noara told them that everything happened by the will of the Force and it was hard not to remember those words. Had the Force led his daughter back home, after all these years, even if she didn’t realize it?

Out of the corner of his eye, Brax saw Aric enter his office but didn't look up from his datapad to face his old friend. It was enough to know that later he would have to face his wife with what he had learned earlier in the afternoon, Aric had been standing next to him while he had unknowingly spoken to his oldest child and not know for sure if it was her. 

Again her lack of recognition of his name made his chest hurt. Did she really not know her birth name? Or did she know and had pretended not to? Had she given them a fake name to keep up to keep an emotional distance between them?

After leaving Aric standing in front of his desk for several minutes and realizing he hadn’t spoken yet, Braxtol decided it was time to see what his friend wanted. He looked up from the datapad and froze when he saw the serious expression on the Cathar’s face and the visible tension in his body. “What happened?” He asked, mind immediately supplying the worst possible situations. Darvic. He was in the field today, was he okay? “Did something happen to Darvic?”

Aric's frown deepened further, “you don’t know? Then what are you brooding in here about?”

The two men stared at one another, waiting to see who would break first, something they had often done over the years to see who would have to speak first. Giving in, Brax sighed heavily and held out his data pad for Aric to take. His gaze never wavered from the Cathar's face, waiting for him to realize what he was reading.

"Who's DNA profile is this?" Aric asked, dropping into one of the chairs behind him. 

“The Jedi that helped out today, Noara. Read on Jorgan.”

Aric scanned more of the document before he set the data pad down and narrowed his gaze, “Brax this is a paternity test. You did a paternity test on the Jedi?”

Brax sighed heavily, “you didn’t read the whole thing. Aric that's _my_ Noara. The test came back as a positive match.” He slumped in his chair, “my daughter was standing right there and didn’t know me Aric.”

“Damn,” Aric cursed, shaking his head and Brax could see the news sinking in on his face. “I knew it was a hell of a coincidence, the way she favors Jill and the name but I never imagined it was actually her.” 

The disbelief in Aric’s voice was easy to relate to. Braxtol still felt like this was a dream of some kind. The last time he had seen Noara she had been a toddler, still round and chubby in that way babies are. Despite knowing she would obviously have grown, he had never been able to imagine her looking any other way. Reconciling the memories of his baby with the woman he met today was a struggle. 

Clearing his throat, Aric asked a question Braxtol could tell was bugging him. "How did you get a sample from her? Does she know?"

Braxtol shook his head. “She doesn’t know. I ran into her when she was headed to the spaceport and noticed she was injured,” he said, raising his hand when he saw the flash of concern in his friend’s eyes. “She’s fine now, it wasn’t a life threatening injury and only needed a few sutures. While he was tending to her, I had Doctor Haruta get the sample.”

Aric hummed thoughtfully, leaning back in his seat. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Braxtol sighed, dropping his head into his hands. “What am I going to tell Jill? Her baby was here and I didnt realize in time for her to come see her daughter all grown up.”

“What about the security feeds?” Brax frowned and Aric continued, “you could make copies of the sections she showed up in, for Jill. It's not the same but anything would be better than nothing.”

Aric was right. There was nothing Jill regretted more than letting the Jedi take their daughter. Even the twin’s birth less than half a year later couldn't fill that hole. Of course it hadn’t, Brax felt the same way. He loved all of his children but seeing the other three grow drove home the pain of not getting that experience with their first born. 

Pushing that depressing thought aside, Braxtol booted up the computer console attached to his desk. It only took a moment to access the security feeds and he was about to start scanning through them when he stopped and looked back up at Aric. “What did you think I was brooding about?”

“I was really hoping you would forget about that.”

“Jorgan.”

“Before I fill you in it’s important you know Darvic is fine, I sent him home before coming to see you so he can get some rest before we ship out to Coruscant tomorrow.” Braxtol opened his mouth to ask him what that was supposed to mean but Aric held up his hand to stop him. “Might as well get comfortable because that’s the least dramatic thing that happened today.”

By the time Aric finished recounting his day, Braxtol’s head was spinning. He had thought the sudden appearance of his daughter was the most unexpected thing that could happen today. Turns out he wasn’t thinking nearly big enough. What was it Jill used to say when they were younger? When you focus on the small picture the rest of the galaxy doesn’t stand still. That summed up how today felt. 

Fighting his suspicions and doubts about whether the Jedi was actually _his_ Noara had consumed so much of his attention that he had almost forgotten his concerns about Darvic’s sudden promotion and transfer to Ord Mantell. He’d spoken at length with both Jill and Aric about it, how it didn’t quite add up. Darvic was talented, no doubt about that, and he had the makings of a good soldier, but he was young. So young. Very much still the rookie Aric called him in public. A sudden transfer to the Republic’s most decorated squad made no sense.

Ever since hearing of the promotion Braxtol had been confused by it, proud as any father could be of his son, but confused. Now it made more sense and part of him really hoped Darvic didn’t put things together the same way. The kid had been so excited by his new assignment it would kill him to know it was just another part of Tavus’ plan. The Brass had been pushing for Havoc to take a new member for a while now, that wasn’t a secret, and taking on an experienced and older soldier could have thrown a hydrospanner into their plans. 

“So let me see if I’ve got this right,” Braxtol said, trying to get his head around everything Aric had said. “Havoc Squad defected, tried to kill my boy, then the Brass tapped you to lead the squad - which now only includes you and my son - to hunt them down?”

“That about sums it up,” Aric said, nodding. “They want the traitors rounded up as soon as possible, if it weren't for whatever happened at the orbital station I think we would be on our way to Coruscant already.” 

Braxtol straightened in his chair, “something happened at the orbital station?” He tried to tamp it down but a swell of both hope and fear rose up in him, did whatever happened stop Noara from leaving? Or was she caught up in whatever it was?

Aric shrugged. “Not sure, the general didn’t say.”

Needing to know, Braxtol turned back to his computer console and navigated around the security feed he had pulled up to check the status of the orbital station. Sure enough, it was on lockdown and it took a bit of looking around to find out why. He had always noticed this box on files but never saw it checked: Sith infiltration. 

Braxtol’s blood turned to ice. It wasn’t confirmation, but a Sith infiltration where he knew his daughter was headed? That didn’t bode well. He pulled the security feed back up and instead of selecting the base cameras he planned to look at first, he pulled up the orbital station. The live feed started, several camera angles showing what was currently happening in the orbital station playing, and focusing on the airlock that was filled with personnel he rewound the recording. 

On the fastest setting it jumped backward in 15 minute increments giving them flashes of what happened. People milling around like in the life feed flashed to a glimpse of bodies littering the ground to a frenzy of movement. Braxtol almost stopped the video there but let it go a little further, wanting to see the full event. 

When he finally hit play, the airlock was filled with figures dressed in black standing around a young red haired woman with her wrists cuffed together. Aric leaned over his desk to get a better view. “Who's the girl?” he asked but Braxtol could only shrug, he didn’t know either. Or why the Sith, because who else could they be, had captured her. 

“It’s almost like they are waiting for something, if they were after the girl wouldn’t they leave?” The question was barely out of Braxtol’s mouth before his heart plummeted into his stomach. The Sith _were_ waiting for someone and judging by the girl’s reaction when Noara entered the frame it must have been her. He had suspected that anything Sith related would also have involved her but that didn’t stop him from hoping it wouldn’t. 

It was hard to breathe as he watched the events on the screen unfold. Noara immediately pulled out a lightsaber, the bright green blade illuminating the space around it. Words were obviously being exchanged but unlike the armor cams there was no audio feed. Braxtol wasn’t sure if it was better that way, or if he wanted to hear the exchange between his daughter and the Sith she was facing alone. 

Without audio there was no warning before the scene seemed to exploud into movement. Noara surged forward toward the Sith in the middle. Their blades clash together as the droid that had accompanied Noara fired on the other Sith. It was startling to see her in action, the small woman somehow overpowering the larger man she faced, pulling out a second lightsaber and cutting him down. Braxtol had seen Jedi in action a few times in his career but this was still surprised by the quick, fluid, and brutal way she killed the Sith surrounding her. Before long it was over, all the Sith laid out on the ground, save the one she kicked hard enough to send him flying over the rails. He hadn’t seen her get injured but the moment she returned her weapons to her belt, Noara was pressing her hand to her side and it struck him like a taser. If he hadn’t made her visit a medic before leaving, could this fight have ended very differently? Silently Braxtol thanked whoever was listening that he had noticed her injury earlier. He couldn’t protect her from dangers like this but it was a small comfort to know he had helped in a way. 

Sighing heavily, Braxtol leaned back in his chair and looked over to see a similar expression on Aric’s face. “What is it with today,” he asked, “and my kids having these close calls?”

Aric shook his head, “no idea, but you have to admit they both came out of it pretty well.”

“Yes they did,” Braxtol said, feeling a swell of pride for his two oldest children. “I better get some other videos of Noara, the girls can't see this. Are you coming to dinner tonight?

“One last homemade meal before getting shipped out?” Aric grinned, flashing sharp teeth. “Of course.”


End file.
